Resorts World Sentosa lays off staff, to give them “fair compensation”

Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) will be laying off a significant number of employees amidst the “devastating impact” the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the tourism industry.

The integrated resort operator in Singapore made the announcement on July 15, saying that it made a “difficult decision” to carry out this one-off retrenchment exercise after “a thorough process of careful deliberation and consultation”.

RWS, who did not disclose the number of jobs affected, added that it resorted to the latest move after implementing other cost-cutting efforts, such as cutting management salaries by up to 30%.

“Over the past few months, we have reviewed all costs, eliminated non-essential spending, and reduced the salaries of management by up to 30%,” the company said in a media statement.

“In this latest round of review, we have made the difficult decision to implement a one-off workforce rationalization. This decision was made after a thorough process of careful deliberation and consultation.”

All affected workers will get “fair compensation”. The vast majority of local staff have also been retained.

The company, which operates casinos, hotels and Universal Studios on Sentosa Island, is also committed to working with the Singapore government to help find new career opportunities for retrenched workers.

It said at least two to three job opportunities have been shortlisted for every retrenched staff.

“Our human resources team is working closely with the Ministry of Manpower, Attractions, Resorts and Entertainment Union (AREU) and Singapore National Employers Federation to ensure the exercise is carried out in a responsible, transparent and sensitive manner,” RWS added.